Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Wizard’s Edition Revealed

As much as I’m not so crazy about pricey collector’s editions these days, this one’s actually a nice buy for the sole reason it’s got an ACTUAL 300-page hardbound book as part of the deal. Namco Bandai’s Club Namco online shop is the first to offer up this $99.99 pre-order, so definitely book it on over there if you want one, as I expect these to sell out FAST.  The other stuff in the package is pretty cool as well, but it’s absolutely awesome to see Namco Bandai doing a limited edition that has something players can actually use as they play the game that gives them a bit more of an attachment to the main character.

OK, it’s worth a hundred bucks, but it’s still not a PERFECT package for some people. If I had to complain about something, it would be the addition of DLC characters in a single player RPG (what if a gamer doesn’t have/want a PSN account or lives in an area where they can’t access broadband?) and the plain US package art which actually manages to make the import version’s lovely but dull cover look absolutely thrilling in comparison. Anyway, start saving up those pennies or if you have them saved, go grab yourself one of these sets ASAP.

New Total Recall Trailer: Arnold Who? Seriously, Is Hollywood Trying To Make Us Forget Him?

For the three boobs out there who wanted to see that three-boobed lady of the evening in the new film: here you go. Actually, I like Colin Farrell’s reaction and the way the scene is played in the trailer, so hopefully it’ll be as brief in the final cut. The one thing I’m concerned about is I can pretty clearly see who the bad guys are in this remake because the trailer gives them away or hell, the casting is just too obvious. Then again, I’ll prepare to be surprised if I’m wrong. Maybe.

Hmmm… Let’s see now… Swarzenegger Negation Remake Project tally: Conan, Total Recall, (some would say) Predators. At this point, all we need are reboots of The Running Man, The Terminator and maybe one or two of his better action films. Commando and Raw Deal are high comedies with gunplay to me, it’s too early to remake True Lies (which is too much fun to remake anyway) and no, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Eraser or Collateral Damage reboots I’d not even want to see no matter who made them. Of course, I’m kidding (but then again, maybe Hollywood isn’t)…

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Hands-On: Twice As Fun (And Then Some)…

As great fun as Disney Epic Mickey was on the Wii, the game did have a few issues. Granted, the innovative gameplay that allowed players to paint in or remove chunks of the game world meant the Wii was doing some spectacular calculations behind the scenes, but the game camera suffered in too many areas. That and the game could have used a bit more in the way of actual voices for its cast, especially as it captured a wide range of Disney history that demanded to be heard as well as seen. Yes, James Dooley’s fantastic score carried the aural experience to new heights, but something was still missing. For the sequel, I’m happy to report that not only are PS3 and Xbox 360 owners going to get in on the fun, those camera and sound problems are gone and Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two should be on your list of games to dive into when it hits retail in mid-November. I finally got to play the E3 demo of the PS3 version at a Disney event here in NYC and as good as the first game was on the Wii, the new camera system absolutely sings using the Move and /Navigation Controller setup.

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Zombeer? Really? OK, Zombies in Games Are Officially Played Out.

Yeesh, now I’ve seen everything. Still, you KNEW this was coming, right? That said, The ride is officially shut for the winter, kids. Show’s over, monkey’s dead, and he ain’t gettin’ up anytime soon. Go on home, now… git!  Resident Evil kicked off the zombies thing in games for many and after over 15 years of assorted games featuring the undead in all sorts of genres from nearly every major and plenty of smaller publishers, here we are at Zombeer: Zombies & Beer. Which means (to me, at least) this is the end of the line for anything original and undead-related in gaming. Of course, I could be dead (or undead) wrong, but that title makes my stomach churn for some reason (and not in a good way). All I’m saying is this had better be the best horror comedy first person shooter ever made AND it better be a bit scary too. That awful pun-wreck of a title nearly made me want to poke my eye out with a cold spoon. Anyway, I have a the fingers on one hand crossed that this one doesn’t stink as much as the title and concept do. Eh, maybe I’m in a crappy mood today or something, as stuff like this usually makes me crack up…

Xseed Games Has Been Busy, As You Can See Here…

In case you’ve missed them, here are some rather nice trailers for four new or incoming titles from the publisher. First up is Mistwalker’s epic JRPG, The Last Story, which is looking to be one of the last, great Wii RPGs (and another good reason to own the console). Given that it’s a summer release, it looks as if I won’t be getting much son when it drops into stores.

Next up is FuRyu’s Unchained Blades, another PSN download for the PSP that JRPG fans should be thrilled about. Featuring character art from a wide range of top Japanese illustrators such as Pako (Shining Force), Toshiyuki Kubooka (Lunar), Shinichiro Otsuka (Summon Night), Kazushi Hagiwara (Bastard!!) and more. I’m thrilled about this one because it’s an old-school dungeon crawler in the Wizardry vein, which usually means plenty of great fun and challenge. There’s a 3DS version coming as well, but I’m not sure if it’s a retail package or download-only title like the PSP game.

 

Finally, two games from Nihon Falcom’s long-running Y’s series: Ys: Oath in Felghana and Ys Origin, both coming to Valve’s Steam download service with some great visual updates and running at a lovely 60 frames per second. Buy them, I say. Still, I also have to ask if Xseed can make these available as direct downloads or set them up as DRM-free on gog.com or some other site. While I do have a Steam account, I can’t use it on my terminally slow connection at all because of the update process that slows everything to a crawl. My gog.com account, on the other hand, is pretty smooth going and I haven’t had any major issues with it. of course, I’d prefer these on a UMD or even better, a Vita card as part of an Ys Collection with an art book that happens to fit inside a Vita case and perhaps a soundtrack and wallpaper on that game card, but that’s just my wishful thinking that SOME publisher would maximize that over-sized case Vita games come in.

 

OK, enough reading – go play (or pre-order) some games!

Journey: Collector’s Edition Trailer: My Psychic Powers At Work…

 

As I predicted, here’s what’s coming in the retail version of Journey: Collector’s Edition, coming soon to the PS3. The only things missing are more PSN demos, but Sony is offering up a PlayStation Plus subscription for those of you who want to check out the service and see what’s what. Granted, this means not a thing to games without the means to go online at all, but hey, I guess SCEA will figure that out at some point. Still, this is a must purchase collection and heck, will make a great gift for any gamer out there who hasn’t tried these gems yet.

The Amazing Spider-Man Game Update: A Little Bruce Campbell Action For You…

OK, I may not want to swing around a virtual NYC as Stan ‘The Man” Lee in The Amazing Spider-Man game, but I can’t say anything negative about Bruce Campbell getting into the game, voicing “The Extreme Reporter” (which is an oddball name for a character, but oh well). Now, would I want to swing around in the game as Bruce in the guise of Ash, Brisco County Jr., Elvis from Bubba-Ho-Tep or any other characters he’s played? Nope. I just appreciate the man’s talent and humor along with his large body of work. That and hell, some “bonuses” aren’t all that special if they make no sense, kids…

Spec Ops: The Line Developer Diary #1: Yager’s Focus On Excellence All Around

With the game about to roll into retail this coming Tuesday, 2K has released this developer diary about the making of this innovative squad-based shooter. It’s pretty clear that developer Yager wasn’t set on just copying other games or doing something that wasn’t going to be yet another multiplayer focused shooter with a to short single player campaign, so definitely check this one out if you’re looking for something unique and compelling on a few fronts…

Best Gaming News I’ve Heard Today (So Far): Journey Collector’s Edition Coming To Disc This Year.

OK, you KNOW you’re tired when you keep replacing the posts you just wrote with new ones, then get annoyed that what you spent time working on has gone for good (almost… thank goodness for auto-saves!). One more re-post (this one), and I’m off to bed, grrrr…

Well, well, well. Something I’d begged thatgamecompany to consider doing way back when I first saw Journey at a press event here in NYC and it looks as if a lot of other people have been thinking and wanting the exact same thing. Thanks to a recent tweet that spilled the beans after the CE info for the region-free Asian version showed up on Play-Asia (interestingly enough, the page says the popular online import retailer has pre-sold out of its allocated supply already). I saw something about a week or two ago mentioning the possibility of Journey hitting retail a disc, but it looks as if tgc’s other hits, flOw and Flower will also be included along with other surprises not yet revealed. My money is on a soundtrack (either downloadable or on the Blu-Ray), art gallery and perhaps a making of video, all of which would make the package a must-buy, especially for PS3 owners who don’t or can’t access PSN.

That said… all of that content would indeed be lovely, but if there were demos of other PSN games (that were or are HOPEFULLY also Blu-Ray bound as fair-priced collections) of recent vintage (or those soon to be released… *cough!* Papo & Yo *cough!*), that would be even better. Come on, SCEA – do this up right and make some money while making a LOT of people really happy in the process. More news on this awesomeness as it rolls out. The inevitable trailer should be interesting, that’s for sure…

Nintendo 3DS XL: It’s Definitely Much Larger (And New Users Need To Buy A Charger)…

Update: Well, oops: it looks as if the XL will indeed ship with that Adapter.Charger after all. Thanks to Destructoid for confirming this. Now, good night!

How very, very funny. I was going to buy my own 3DS a few weeks back (I’d been borrowing a friend’s system from time to time, as he doesn’t use it much), but something kept holding me back. It looks as if this was what I was waiting for, so good for me, I suppose. Those larger screens are a blessing my my ancient eyeballs and while the unit doesn’t have a second analog disc (there’s now room for it, but hell, you’d have to have EVERY game that could use a second stick be reprogrammed to take advantage of it), it’s not going to stop many core users from upgrading (after some complaints, especially if they recently bought a 3DS). That said, Nintendo gets a kick in the shins for keeping the price “below” $200 by dropping the AC Adapter/battery charger from the new handheld’s packaging, forcing new users to shell out for one. If you’re trading up, the old 3DS Adapter will work just fine, so at least they got THAT right (Apple, take notes, at least on this part).

As usual, you can’t make EVERYONE happy, but you can at least make sure they can see and play your games, so kudos to Nintendo on that front. Oh yeah, here’s the rest of the Nintendo Direct video so you can check out what else is coming for the platform from the house that Mario built…